by rakeeter 
June came wet and left dry. It’s been nearly two weeks since any moisture fell from the skies and three since any appreciable amount fell. There are still lots of wildflowers out at the Bluff but there probably won’t be for long. It’s time to start catching up on the mowing out there. We had to let it go because of all the wildflowers mixed in with the weeds and grass.
Continue reading “Goodbye June”by rakeeter 
Memorial Day morning, after visiting the cemeteries where we found the ancestors resting easy, and having breakfast, we drove out to Riverland to see the wild flowers. I heard someone at the naturalist meeting say that the wildflowers along the Cas Johnson road leading to Alibates National Monument and McBride Canyon were putting on a show. As you can see from the pictures above, they were right. The fragrance of all those flowers was good, too.
Continue reading “Goosed”by rakeeter 
First sighted, a Western Kingbird on April 25th. That’s a sure sign of approaching summer. About the same time we began getting regular visits at our feeder by Black Chin hummingbird(S). The cherry trees we planted a few weeks ago have little green cherries on them. Not many, but some. The weeds are defiant though I do my best to keep them mowed down. Other than a couple of gales in March, it has been a nice spring.
Continue reading “April wrap”by rakeeter Joyce had just warmed up some leftovers for our Sunday evening dinner when she glanced out the kitchen window and saw several dogs running toward the shop. The gate was open from people coming and going. Cookie happened to be in the area and the two pit bill-types and one of similar size but different breed rousted him immediately. Continue reading “Close call”
by rakeeter 
Ever since Dad built the lily pool at my request as a Mother’s Day present for my mom over 60 years ago, it has been largely neglected with only infrequent cleanings. In the last few years I’ve tried to routinely clean it using a device designed to vacuum leaves and dirt out of it. That helped but the water remained stubbornly turbid. I tried adding barley extract, which is supposed to help with that problem and did some, but didn’t really accomplish making the pool attractive to my satisfaction. Last summer I experimented with pumping maybe a third of the water out and then refilling with clean water. That made a big difference but with the clearer water I was able to see all of the crud on the sides and bottom. Continue reading “Spring cleaning”
